Press Release

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) board met in special
session on Dec. 29 and voted to reverse provider rate reductions which were
approved on Dec. 1 and scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.

During the second special session, the Oklahoma legislature passed
an additional appropriation providing the agency with $17.7 million. These
funds coupled with the $22.8 million that was provided when Governor Mary
Fallin approved sections of the appropriations bill on November 17 give the
agency enough funds to operate at current levels until April.

The
OHCA had already taken several budget balancing actions preparing for the agency’s
$70 million reduction to its appropriation due to the loss of the smoking
cessation fee and in order to submit a balanced budget. Several program changes
have been implemented in SFY18 that produce savings of approximately $3.2
million for SFY18. In addition, $4.65 million in 2017 general revenue was returned
to the agency in SFY18 and the agency had $12 million in carryover from SFY17.

On Dec.
1, the OHCA board approved across-the-board provider rate reductions of 6
percent and 1 percent for nursing facilities as well as eliminating Medicare
crossover coinsurance and deductible payments for nursing facilities to be
effective Jan. 1. These actions were taken to help cover the remainder of the $70
million base reduction.

“We are
thankful to state leadership for continuing to work toward a solution to
protect our providers and the Medicaid program. The OHCA has long held a
commitment to our providers to pay rates that ensure access to care for our
SoonerCare members. The additional appropriation we received allows us to
continue that mission,” said OHCA CEO Becky Pasternik-Ikard.

The Oklahoma Health Care
Authority (OHCA) administers two health programs for the state. The first is
SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. SoonerCare works to improve the health
of qualified Oklahomans by ensuring that medically necessary benefits and
services are available. Qualifying Oklahomans include certain low-income
children, seniors, the disabled, those being treated for breast or cervical
cancer and those seeking family planning services. The second program OHCA
operates is Insure Oklahoma, which assists qualifying adults and small business
employees in obtaining health care coverage for themselves and their families.
Currently, there are 827,390 Oklahomans enrolled in OHCA’s programs. The
agency contracts with a network of 46,477 providers. For more information,
visit www.okhca.org or www.insureoklahoma.org.